Conspiracy Theory and the Foreign Policy of the Far Right: The Case of Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil (2019-2021)

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyses the conspiratorial worldview that surrounded the foreign policy of Jair Bolsonaro’s government in Brazil during the tenure of Ernesto Araújo as Brazilian Foreign Minister (2019-2021), discussing the potential roles that conspiracy theory played for Bolsonaro’s political movement and administration. We focus on Ernesto Araújo’s so-called globalist conspiracy theory, employing his speeches, publications, and interviews as main sources. We conclude that Araújo’s globalist conspiracy theory constitutes what Michael Barkun calls a ‘systemic conspiracy theory’, presenting significant potential functions for the energization and cohesion of Bolsonaro’s political movement. The paper also concludes that, given its focus on the intrinsic unit of the ‘nation’ and the ‘people’, Araújo’s globalist conspiracy theory has opened potential avenues for the use of symbolic and material violence against Brazilians who do not fit into this unit, consolidating ideological foundations for the fasciticization of Bolsonaro’s followers, with significant and grave potential consequences for Brazilian democracy.

Keywords

• conspiracy theory
• globalism
• Jair Bolsonaro
• Ernesto Araújo
• Brazilian foreign policy